Pushing Past 'No': The New York Times and Journalistic Ethics

I read this article from New York Times reporter Graham Bowley, which details his attempts to interview Sahar Gul, a fifteen-year old Afghani girl who was tortured by her husband and in-laws after refusing to go into prostitution. I was interested in The New York Times coverage of this horrifying incident, but was shocked with Bowley's reporting. What follows is the subsequent letter I wrote to the editor:

To the Editor:
I was dismayed to read Graham Bowley's (“In One Girl’s Story, a Test of Women’s Rights in Afghanistan”, January 10, 2012) article describing his interview with Sahar Gul, the Afghan teenager who was the victim of gruesome abuse by her husband and in-laws. I believe the manner in which Mr. Bowley attempted to gain access to Ms. Gul while she was recovering in the hospital is unprofessional and unethical. Yet, The New York Times felt it was appropriate to publish these details. He took great pride describing how he “pushed past ‘no’” when hospital workers repeatedly told him that Ms. Gul did not wish to speak to reporters because she was too emotionally fragile to revisit her story. Mr. Bowley notes that Ms. Gul had already been interviewed by another news organization (the Associated Press), and therefore, the goal of disseminating her story with a broader audience—indeed, an important goal for journalism—was already achieved. However, Mr. Bowley’s persistence in interviewing Ms. Gul seemed to be more of an attempt to advance his professional career rather than to share an important story with the world. I see no need for a The New York Times reporter to subject a child to a additional questions and potentially retraumatize her in the process just to enhance a newspaper’s credibility. There is nothing to be gained in this process, and journalists such as Mr. Bowley must remember that they have an ethical responsibility when reporting in volatile settings such as Afghanistan.
Regards,
Bree Akesson

I shortly received the following response from The New York Times public editor, Arthur S. Brisbane, who "works outside of the reporting and editing structure of the newspaper and receives and answers questions or comments from readers and the public, principally about articles published in the paper":

Thanks for your message about Graham Bowley's coverage of Sahar Gul, the young Afghan girl. I am concerned about the girl's privacy as well and have raised the question with the Foreign Desk. I do concur that news organizations should be careful to respect the privacy of crime victims. This is a case where, I believe, the benefits of doing a story were outweighed by the potential harm to the girl.

Best,
Art Brisbane public editor

Arthur Brisbane wrote an-ed piece about this topic, addressing many of the concerns in my letter (which reflected many other readers' views), along with a response from the foreign editor. You can view the article here.

Study in Afghanistan Finds Trauma Exposure and Caregiver Mental Health Predict Risk of Negative Mental Health Outcomes in War-Affected Youth

Research conducted in war-affected situations has found an association between exposure to traumatic events and mental health outcomes. However, there have been few studies focusing on the mental health outcomes of children and adolescents affected by war. Panter-Brick, et al. (2009) conducted a study aimed at determining a causal relationship between war and mental health problems, specifically looking at associations related to gender, traumatic events, caregiver mental health, and socio-demographic characteristics. The sample targeted children ages 11 to 16, who were randomly drawn from randomly selected schools in three purposively chosen regions of Afghanistan. Data were gathered from three informants (children, caregivers, and teachers), who were interviewed with a variety of brief measures. Measures were chosen because they had high reliability in other contexts of instability. To increase instrument diagnostic validity, measures were translated, back-translated, and reviewed by a multi-disciplinary team. The research found that the variables of exposure to multiple trauma and caregiver mental health were predictive of psychopathology for in-school Afghan adolescents. Previous research corroborates this finding and adds to the study’s external validity. Furthermore, the study found that girls were more likely than boys to develop poor mental health outcomes, such as depression.

The authors explore the quality of traumatic events to include not just war-related events, but accidents, corporal punishment, illness, death of a relative. The quality of the particular incident is not indicative of predicting poor mental health, but rather the accumulation of traumatic events contribute to risk factors for mental health problems. The study includes a few threats to validity. By only sampling school children, the study neglects out-of-school youth, who may be at high risk of developing psychopathology. Furthermore, even though the sample of in-school youth was stratified to include accurate proportions of boys and girls, the focus on in-school youth disproportionately excludes girls, because boys are more likely to attend school than girls. The school samples were restricted to three urban areas, affecting external validity and indicating that future research might consider including a sample from a rural setting. Despite its limitations, this study indicates the value of working within the school system to assess children’s mental health needs and proves the value of school-based mental health services. Furthermore, the findings contribute to the small but much needed knowledge base about the mental health of war-affected children.

Reference:
Panter-Brick, C., Eggerman, M., Gonzalez, V., and Safdar, S. (2009). Violence, suffering, and mental health in Afghanistan: a school-based survey. The Lancet, 374, 807-816.